In late October Selex Galileo performed flight tests of its Falco Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) equipped with the firm’s Gabbiano T20N radar.

The Gabbiano X-band airborne radar family can equip both UAVs and manned aircraft. It is intended to support maritime patrol and homeland security missions.

The radar has a low probability of interception via its frequency agility and jammer avoidance functions. Offering a range of up to 407 kilometres (220 nautical miles), the antenna’s blind zone is a mere six metres (19.6 feet) in the T20 configuration, and 75m (246ft) for the T200 Gabbiano variant (see below). Spot and strip synthetic aperture radar modes are integral to the radar, as is a ground moving target indicator.

As noted above, the family includes the T20 and T200 products. The T20 includes a belly-mounted 360º and a 90º nose-mounted antenna with a weight of 43 kilograms (94.6 pounds). Its transmission power averages 20 watts and the radar uses a solid state power amplifier. The belly-mounted antenna for the T200 weighs 62kg (136lb) with the nose-mounted antenna weighing 56kg (123lb). Transmissions are generated by a travelling wave tube with an output of 200W when using peak power management.